Over at RealClearMarkets Diana Furchtgott-Roth offers a telling example of how Obama’s proposed tax hikes would negatively impact women:
Amanda is marrying Henry, who owns an electrical supply store and has taxable income of $160,000. Amanda’s taxable income as a nurse is $50,000. Unmarried, he is in the 28% bracket and she is in the 25% bracket. When they get married, they will be taxed at 33%-rising to 36% in 2011 if Mr. Obama’s proposed tax hikes take effect.
By raising taxes on upper-income Americans, Mr. Obama would worsen our tax system’s marriage penalty on two-earner married couples, and Amanda and Henry would pay even more tax married than single.
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Our tax system shouldn’t make it harder for women to work. The penalty falls most heavily on married women who have invested in education, hoping to shatter glass ceilings and compete with men for managerial jobs, and the Obama plan would exacerbate the penalty.
When mothers take jobs, earnings are reduced by taxes paid at their husbands’ higher rates, in addition to costs for childcare and her transportation. This discourages married women not just from working, but also from striving for promotions, from pursuing upwardly-mobile careers.
More here.